Justin Steele Will Miss The Remainder Of The 2025 Season

Good morning Chicago fans! Springtime means yard work, and I’m sore from a very productive weekend. Luckily, I’ll heal up. The Cubs, however, have injuries to deal with after just 18 games. How did they handle the devastating injury news? Beating the Dodgers in LA 😎

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

L - Penguins 5, Blackhawks 0

Rematch reversal prompts team meeting

• Penguins outplayed the Hawks for all 60 minutes in a rematch of the Hawks’ 3-1 victory two days beforehand

• Only the 2nd time the Hawks have been shutout all season

• Spencer Knight and Kevin Korchinski struggled all night…

W - Blackhawks 5, Bruins 2

Donato Boston Birthday Bash!

• Ryan Donato scored his 30th goal of the season against his hometown team that drafted him in 2014

• Arvid Soderblom had a great game and kept the Hawks alive in the 2nd period

• Hawks scored 4 goals in the 3rd period on only 4 shots 🎯

L - Jets 5, Blackhawks 4 (SO)

Intense battle against the Presidents’ Trophy winner!

• Knight was impressive and had a ton of ridiculous pad saves

• Nick Foligno scored a shorthanded goal, Donato/Bedard/Nazar also scored

• Alec Martinez announced his retirement and played in his and Pat Maroon’s final NHL game at the United Center

Star of the Week ⭐ Ryan Donato

2 goals on 7 shots

Play of the Week 🎥 Spencer Knight save

Signed prospect C Ryan Greene to a 3-year entry-level contract ($950K cap hit)

• Another early college departure for the young core!!!

• Finished with 13 goals and 25 assists (38 points) in 40 games in his junior season at Boston University

• 2nd round pick (57th overall) in Kyle Davidson’s first draft as GM (2022)

• He will debut tonight and play in their final 2 games this season!

Ivan Demidov of the Montreal Canadiens left the KHL early to sign his first contract in the NHL. Kyle Davidson was close to trading back into the Top 5 of last year’s draft to pair Demidov with Levshunov, so it’s disappointing his early arrival won’t be as a Blackhawk along with the rest of the recent signees.

Levshunov won the fan civil war over who should get drafted, so now Demidov vs. Levshunov will be can’t-miss TV tonight in Demidov’s NHL debut!

Connor Bedard broke Eddie Olczyk’s Blackhawks record for most assists by a teenager with 81

Reassigned Ethan Del Mastro to the AHL

Anders Sorensen will be on Sweden’s coaching staff at the IIHF World Hockey Championship in May.

Signed F Aidan Thompson to a 2-year entry-level contract ($895K cap hit). He’ll play for Rockford for the remainder of the season.

Locked in the 2nd best odds in the NHL Draft Lottery

SCHEDULE 📅 M/T

CHICAGO BULLS

L - Cavaliers 135, Bulls 113

Load management lay down

• Bulls rested a bunch of players (Coby, Giddey, Vucevic, Huerter) in a strange decision that slowed their momentum to climb the standings

• Starting lineup: Carter/Terry/Buzelis/Williams/Smith

• Patrick Williams was the Bulls’ leading scorer with 21 points - his first 20+ point game since December 2023 🙄

W - Bulls 119, Heat 111

Beat the Heat to…beat the Heat?

• Bulls won the Play-In preview that helped set the seeding for a rematch!

• Josh Giddey put on a show with his 7th triple-double (28p/11a/16r) of the season

• All 5 Bulls starters scored 17+ points!

W - Bulls 119, Wizards 89

Blowout in the home finale!

• Julian Phillips led all scorers with a career-high 23 points

• Bulls won for Ida, a 95 year old die-hard fan who was gifted tickets to her first ever Bulls game

W - Bulls 122, 76ers 102

Game #82 at the playground

• The Bulls bench played the entire 2nd half as the starters look ahead to the Play-In

• Kevin Huerter scored an efficient 18 points in 16 minutes by shooting 5/7 from 3PT

Star of the Week ⭐ Kevin Huerter

15.6p/5.0a per game, 10/22 (45.5%) from 3PT

Play of the Week 🎥 Matas Buzelis drive

Clinched the 9th seed and their 3rd straight Play-In Tournament appearance

• (9) Bulls vs. (10) Heat in Chicago on Wednesday night

• Winner plays a 2nd game on Friday night against the winner of Hawks/Magic

• Win both games and get the 8th seed in the playoffs!

• The Bulls lost to the Heat in their 2nd Play-In game in 2023 AND 2024…here we are for a 3rd straight matchup

82 games later, and the Bulls ended up hitting their target. This season was always going to result in another Play-In appearance. They have been stuck in the middle for the past 3 years, and they haven’t done anything to change their fate.

My season prediction was 42-40. Even though I was close, their path to 39-43 was not what I expected. The near-.500 start (18-20) made sense, the 4-15 collapse in January and February came out of nowhere, and finally finding a trade partner for Zach LaVine allowed players like Giddey and White to step into more prominent roles.

They went 15-5 to finish the season!!! 😮

Josh Giddey is the 3rd player in the NBA this season to accumulate 1,000 points, 500 assists, and 500 rebounds. The other two? LeBron James and Nikola Jokic.

Lonzo Ball is officially out for Wednesday’s game vs. the Heat with his wrist injury

SCHEDULE 📅 W

CHICAGO CUBS

W - Cubs 7, Rangers 0

Vintage Justin Steele on the frozen mound

• Steele survived wind chills in the 20s to throw a gem in an important bounceback outing (7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K)

• Cubs baserunning excelled again with 5 stolen bases! Jon Berti started and stole 2 bases in the 3rd inning before beating out a throw home on a sharp grounder to 1st

W - Cubs 10, Rangers 6

Captain Clutch Dansby!

• The bullpen gave up another lead (6-3), but the Cubs broke the tie with 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th

• Dansby Swanson went 2-for-4 with 4 RBI, including a game-winning 2-R single in the 8th

• Seiya Suzuki and Pete Crow-Armstrong each had 3 hits

L - Rangers 6, Cubs 2

Rangers slug their way out of a sweep

• Shota Imanaga gave up too much hard contact with the wind blowing out and allowed 2 of the Rangers’ 3 HRs

• Tyler Mahle silenced the hot Cubs lineup (7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER)

L - Dodgers 3, Cubs 0

Stacked Dodgers pitching staff too much to handle

• Yamamoto/Yates/Treinen/Scott is a gauntlet for any team to hit against. They limited the Cubs to 2 hits and 1 walk 🤢

• One pitch ended Matthew Boyd’s scoreless innings streak (16) and lost the game when Tommy Edman hit a 3-R HR in the 6th inning

W - Cubs 16, Dodgers 0

Shutout redemption!

• Cubs tiptoed through 6 innings before scoring 5 in the 7th, 4 in the 8th, and 5 in the 9th

• Michael Busch went 4-for-6 with a HR (and had a grand slam robbed) and Carson Kelly went 3-for-3 with 2 HRs and 2 BBs

• Ben Brown turned a corner against the best lineup on the planet (6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K)

W - Cubs 4, Dodgers 2

Who’s that, LA? PCA and Colin Rea!

• PCA went off in his hometown in front of family and friends with 2 HRs and a triple (11 total bases!)

• Colin Rea stepped in for Justin Steele and pitched a very solid 3.2 IP of 1-run ball before the bullpen took it the rest of the way

Star of the Week ⭐ Michael Busch

9-for-20 (.450 AVG), 2 HRs, 6 RBI

Play of the Week 🎥 Kyle Tucker diving catch

🚨 Justin Steele will have surgery and miss the remainder of the season 🚨

Steele’s arm tightened up during his start on Monday, and he was diagnosed with left elbow tendinitis. It’s the same injury he suffered last season, so he sought out a second opinion to see why it returned.

Unfortunately, he needs elbow surgery after only 4 starts.

This offseason, Steele was adamant about staying healthy in 2025. After dealing with injuries in the past, he was searching for answers to prevent future problems. I feel terrible that the injury popped up again. He just celebrated 500 career Ks, 500 career IPs, threw a gem, and it all came crashing down thanks to the Rangers curse that began on Opening Day last season. Praying for a quick recovery for our ace 🙏

Who fills in for Steele??? This is where the disappearing act the Cubs pulled in free agency will come back to bite them. They were reportedly interested in SO many starters and could have targeted more (Luzardo/Sasaki/Pivetta/Buehler/Crochet/etc.), but they put on the brakes after signing Matthew Boyd. Rea was impressive last night, but a combination of him, Javier Assad off of an injury, and Jordan Wicks does not boost my confidence in that 5th spot.

Acquired LHP Tom Cosgrove from the San Diego Padres for cash considerations

• Another flyer for the bullpen! This is how Jed does business - turning over every leaf and trying every fringe major leaguer to find a hidden gem. It worked last season with Tyson Miller and Jorge Lopez…

• Cosgrove made it to the big leagues in 2023 and was FILTHY. He had a 1.75 ERA and 0.97 WHIP in 51.1 IP. He really struggled in 2024 and has spent most of his time in AAA recently.

Cubs reportedly offered Pete Crow-Armstrong a contract extension worth up to $75M, but they couldn’t come to an agreement. I LOVE that they already approached him about a long-term deal. Please, Jed, make this happen. Lock up the franchise CF and potential franchise player of the future.

Recalled RHP Ethan Roberts from AAA

DFA’d RHP Caleb Kilian

• This closes the book on the Kris Bryant trade from 2021. Alexander Canario, now with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Kilian ended up not working out for the Cubs. They were promising young players at the time and showed off some skill over their last couple years in Chicago. It’s too bad they didn’t become major league contributors. Trading away an elite former MVP should really give you some value in return.

Kyle Tucker won NL Player of the Week for the week of March 30th! 🥇 Almost-Cub and former Astros teammate Alex Bregman won the AL award.

David Ross returns to a dugout! He will serve as the Bullpen Coach for Team USA at the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

SCHEDULE 📅 M/T/W/F/SAT/SUN

CHICAGO BEARS

OFFSEASON

🚨 Signed CB Kyler Gordon to a 3-year, $40M contract extension 🚨

Chicago’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is here to stay!

With great power comes great…coverage. And money. And interceptions!

Ryan Poles’ first draft pick as GM (39th overall in 2022) will be a Bear through 2028. Despite a few minor injuries in his first 3 seasons in the NFL, Gordon has been electric on the field. His athleticism is off the charts, his football IQ continues to improve, he’s violent in the run game and lockdown in the pass game, and his playmaking ability is impressive.

He’s a homegrown talent who is now the highest paid nickel corner in the league. And he’s my favorite defensive player on the Bears!!!

The voluntary offseason program started last Monday!

Signed DB Nahshon Wright to a 1-year contract

• Previously on the Vikings

• 2021 draft pick by the Cowboys where he worked with new Bears DB coach Al Harris

Tony Medlin and the rest of the equipment staff won the NFL’s Whitey Zimmerman Award for their 2024 season! 🥇

SAY WHAT?

A CITYWIDE SALUTE

Lonzo Ball

Lonzo’s “new knee” that allowed him to return to the basketball court after 1,009 days was the subject of grief and celebration at the United Center on Wednesday.

He hosted the family of Alex Reinhardt who sadly passed away in 2023. Reinhardt’s meniscus was donated to Lonzo as part of his knee transplant surgeries that defied the hopelessness of his injury.

Lonzo took the chance to honor the family and tell them how grateful he was for their son. Read more here:

MILD TAKE

The Bulls’ Play-In performance doesn’t matter.

I’ve held true to one thing about the Bulls over the last couple years: they don’t have a path to a championship.

They’re the furthest away from contention when compared to the Bears, Cubs, and Hawks.

Arturas Karnisovas stuck with a miscast roster for two years too long, never pivoted after Lonzo Ball’s injury, and had no plan to bottom out or acquire a star.

Instead of actually building a contender, he extended his first draft pick (Patrick Williams) with a $90M check, he was loyal to DeMar DeRozan and his iso-ball play style, and he was determined to add talent to a talent deficient roster. None of it ever added up.

Four years into his tenure. Three Play-In Tournaments.

I will give him credit for landing Matas Buzelis in the draft and trading for Josh Giddey. If anything, those two players along with Coby White can be significant contributors in the future. As for their “big game experience” they will get on Wednesday night and could possibly get for another couple weeks with a nice sweep against the Cavaliers in the playoffs…it doesn’t matter. Playoff basketball only builds resiliency in a young team that can push towards the Finals in the near future.

Win or lose, this is just another rematch in another game 83. They’ll be on the outside looking in on lottery night and are miles away from a deep playoff run.

HITTING THE LINKS

Joe Cowley - How 15 hours on a plane with no Wi-Fi changed Josh Giddey's career (Chicago Sun-Times)

Adam Jahns - An inside look at the start of the Bears’ new era as Ryan Poles hired Ben Johnson (The Athletic)

Julia Poe - Patrick Williams wants to be a postseason X factor for the Chicago Bulls. First, he has to find consistency. (Chicago Tribune)

Tommy Birch - Iowa Cubs baseball: How James Triantos became one of the Chicago Cubs' top prospects (Des Moines Register)

Chicago Bears - Building the trenches | 1920 Football Drive (YouTube)

Chicago Cubs - Cubs All Access | Japan (YouTube)

TWO MINUTE WARNING

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Thanks for reading! Kick back and enjoy another Play-In Tournament! Or just find the video from last year…or the year before…